Lighter



Jan. 16, 1951 R. s. CASAVANT I LIGHTER Filed Jan. 2, 1948 INVENTOR Kg? 5 Casavazzi' ATTCW Z I Patented Jan. 16, 1951 UNITED ism-res Mm orrics LIGHTER Robert s. Casavant, stuthbriaee, Mass. Application January 2, 1948, Serial No. 132

(C1. iii-v.1)

3 Claims.

'Ihis'invention" relates to lighters and has particular reference to an: improved construction of lighter of the type embodying a sparkwheel and fi-i-nta-rranged to 'ignitea wick saturated with an inflammable fluid and method of making the same.

Priorart lighters of the above character, as far as! is known, only held one flint member in operativewposition. at atime and embodied a relatively long. spring for imparting a tension or yielding pressure of said flint member on the sparkwheel. When the full extent of usefulness of the flint member: was spent, it immediately necessitated replacement by another flint member, and, in so d'oir'ig;v required the disassembling and reassembling-ofi the flint supporting parts.

. Suchipri'or 'arti constructions of lighters requiredtreplacemeiit flintsto be carried by the user a ndainvelvdl many diiiieulties such as the loss of extrmflin'ts: or thecomplete failure on the part ofithe user to carry such flintsr Conditions of this'i'nature, in most-instances, arose at times when; rer ilacehrnent flints were not readily obtainablei l t -therefiere, is 'on'r-i of the principal objects of this "nyention' to overcome the above difficulties prevision of a lighter with a flint sup porting feed mechanism whereby a plurality of ii tea be placedin said lighter and be suc- J y rfioved-intooperative' position with respent in he s fiarlwheel as the previously exposed fl uses up; and method of making the same y the resilient tension on said flints may lee-regulated to con-trolthe yielding pressure engagementof the exposed flint on the sparkveneer.

Aerobfiect is to provide an arrangement a pluralityof successively usable flints beguided into operative position with the heel without requiring the disassembling or the supporting mechanism, and with 'h tlie" spring pressure on theflints successively guided into engagement with the sparkmanner be regulated iii order to insure smooth and fiicieht fu'nction of the sparkwheel and ease l of manipulationof the lighter.

Another object isf to provide a flint operating for a lighter of the character descenes which may be quickly and easily detached Another objectis: to provide a construction of the last mentioned nature, having an additional spring member functioning cooperatively with the main feed spring for regulating the yielding pressure of, the flint in engagement with the sparkwh-eel, when a maximum amount of flint members are in the flint chamber; I

Other objects andadvantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and itwill be apparent that changes may be 'made in the details of-construction, arrangement of parts and method shown and described-without departing froint-he spirit or the invention: as expressed in the ac companying: claims; I,the'refore, do not wish to be limited to' the: exact details ofconstruction, arrangement of p'arts and method shown and described; as one form only is" given by way. of illustration of the invention.

Referring'to he drawings:

Figure I is a top plan'view of a lighter embodying the" inventionj Figure II is iii-longitudinalsectional view-"taken as cnline II'II' of Figure I; and

Figu re'III is a fragmentary perspective View of the flint holding and feeding mechanism, showing the parts iii-disassembled relation with each other;

Referring more particularly to the drawings,

wherein-like characters reference designating like parts throughout the several views, the de-p vice embodying the invention comprises a main support 4 having a cylindrical bore therein in which thefiin-t supporting and feed mechanism of the inventiorris adapted to be positioned; The

' main support furtherh'as a conventional chamand amendment for 'tlremurpose' of illustratmg oh embodiment of the invention? 'IHe' arrangement to" which the invention is particularly directed embodies a tubular" member II having a 16'r'i'gitudinal slot i 2 *'therein.- The tubular member His frictionally pressed within are cylin'drie'al bore 5* of the Ina-in support'iand the negate-mar slot 1 2 forms a keyway for a pin [3 carried by a plunger M? The plunger M 3 l is positioned centrally of a coil spring I5 which is rotatably positioned within the tubular member I I. The plunger I4, through the thread connection of the pin IS with the coils of the spring member I5, is adapted to be moved longitudinally of said spring member through the rotation thereof. The coil spring I5 is secured adjacent its lower end to attachment means It having a threaded portion H, by means of a downwardly extending portion l8 formed on the said coil spring and which is adapted to extend within an opening :9 formed in said attachment member I6, or may be secured to the upwardly extending projection 20, formed integrally with said attachment means I6, as by soldering, welding, or the like.

The cylindrical bore 5, adjacent the lower end thereof, has a circumferential groove 2| communicating therewith and in which the threaded portion I! of the attachment means It is adapted to move after being threaded in an upward direction through the threaded bore 22 formed in the base of the member 4 and in alignment with the cylindrical bore 5. The tubular member II is of a controlled length which is such as to position its lower edge'23 in substantially flush relation with the upper wall of the circumferential groove 2I when the upper end 24 thereof is seated against a shoulder 25 formed at the upper end of the cylindrical bore 5. The cylindrical bore 5, adjacent the upper end thereof, communicates with a frusto-conical portion 25 which in turn communicates with an opening 2? through which a flint member 28, which is one of a plurality of such flint members positioned within the confines of the coil spring I5, extends. The flint member 28, extending through said opening 21, is adapted to engage with a sparkwheel 29. The sparkwheel 29 is pivotally attached at 30 to spaced bearing supports iii in the conventional manner.

The attachment member I6 is provided with a slot 32 which may be engaged by a suitable tool, such as a screw driver, coin or the like, by which the said member is and in turn the coil spring I5 may be rotated.

The upwardly protruding integral portion 2t is provided with a central bore in which is positioned a relatively short auxiliary spring member 33, the function of which will be described L more in detail hereinafter.

The assembled relation and operative function of the device is substantially as follows:

Keeping in mind the tubular member II hav-' ing the longitudinal slot therein and which is frictionally or resiliently secured within the bore 5 of the main support 4, the coil spring I5 which is operatively connected to the attachment member I6 and its associated parts, functions as a detachable unit. Prior to positioning the coil spring I5 inwardly of the tubular member II,

the plunger Ikhaving the pin I3 extending out-' wardly of the side thereof is first threadedly connected with said coil spring I5 toa position compressively engaging with the auxiliary spring 33.

4 the plurality of flint members 28 are now inserted inwardly of the tubular member II with the pin I3 lying within the longitudinal slot I2. The threaded portion [1 of the attachment member i5 is then threaded upwardly of the threaded bore 22 an amount sufficient to position the threaded portion I'i within the circumferential groove 2| in which position the said attachment means I5 and coil spring I5 are free to rotate while held in said position and against displacement from the circumferential groove by the threads of the bore 22. It is particularly pointed out that the threads I? on the attachment means I6 are so few in number that they may be positioned internally of the circumferential groove ii, for free rotary movement, after the connection means has been positioned in assembled relation with the main support 4. The auxiliary spring 33, when the flint assembly is first positioned within the tubular member II, functions to initially exert a yielding upward movement on the plunger I l, which in turn urges the plurality of flint members upwardly an amount suflicient to yieldingly force the exposed flint member 28 into engagement with sparkwheel 29. The amount of pressure exerted by the auxiliary spring 33 may be initially controlled or limited by threading the plunger i l downwardly against the spring 33, keeping in mind that the spring 33 has a tension which is greater than that initially required to move the flint members upwardly into engagement with the sparkwheel. The purpose of the auxiliary coil spring 33 is to introduce the initial yielding function required to yieldingly hold the exposed flint member 28 into engagement with the sparkwheel 29, when the plunger M is at its initially lowermost position and sufiicient resiliency of the coil spring I5 cannot be brought into play. As the exposed flint member 28 is being worn away by the sparkwheel, added function of the auxiliary resilient means 33 may be brought into play by slightly adjusting or threading the plunger I4 in an upwardly direction. This permits the auxiliary spring 33 to function cooperatively with the coil spring if: in yieldingly urging the flint members in an upwardly direction and provides means whereby the upward pressure of the exposed flint member 23 on the sparkwheel may be controlled so that the said sparkwheel may be freely manually rotated without any undue binding.

As the first flint member is spent, and the secend or subsequent members are moved upwardly into engagement with the sparkwheel 29, the coil spring Iii, which also functions as thread means for moving the plunger I4 upwardly, comes into play to then yieldingly press or hold the flint members into engagement with said sparkwheel. The coil spring I5, subsequent to the initial function of the auxiliary spring 33, now not only functions as thread means for moving the plunger i4 upwardly but also functions to yieldingly hold the exposed flint member 28 in engagement with the sparkwheel and the yielding pressure may be governed by proper adjustment of said coil spring 55 through rotation of the connection means It clockwise or anti-clockwise while exerting a pressure on said member I6. It is quite obvieus that with the arrangement described herein, a plurality or battery of flint members may be initially positioned within the coil spring 55 and may be successively fed upwardly into engagement with the sparkwheel as each respectively exposed flint member has performed the full extent of its usefulness. When it is desired to remove the assembly from the main support 4, all that is required is to rotate the attachment member l6 anti-clockwise wherein the coil spring 15, tending to return to its initial set, will cause the threaded portion I! to engage with the threads of the bore 22 and permit the attachment means l6 to be threaded outwardly of said bore and thereby permit the entire assembly to be removed from the tubular member I I. When performing this latter function, no pressure is exerted uponthe connecting means IS.

The frustra conical portion [6 functions to freely guide the successive flint members into alignment with the opening 21 as they are successively moved upwardly.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that simple, efiicient and economical means and method have been provided for supporting and successively feeding a plurality of flint members upwardly into engagement with the sparkwheel of the lighter and that a lighter having a greater longevity of function has been provided wherein the resilient pressure of each of said flint members moved successively into operative position may be definitely controlled.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a device of the character described the combination of a main support having a hollow bore therein and means for resiliently supporting and feeding. a plurality of members longitudinally of said bore, said means comprising a tubular member having a longitudinal slot therein and adapted to be positioned and supported in said bore, a coil spring in said tubular member, a plunger in said coil spring having a pin threaded with the coils of said spring and having a portion extending within the longitudinal slot of" the tubular member. said main support having the hollow bore therein being formed with an enlarged circumferential groove communicating with t e lower end of said bore and having a threaded opening of a smaller diameter than the circumferential groo e bene th and communicating with said circumferential groove and said coil spring having attachment means secured to the lower end thereof formed with a threaded section adapted to be threaded in one direction through the threaded opening to a position within said circumferential groove whereby said threaded section may be continuously rotated in said direction and the coil spring secured thereto may be lar member being pressed and frictionally held' in intimate relation with the inner side walls of "said bore longitudinally thereof above the circumferential groove, a coil spring rotatably and compressibly supported in said tubular member, a plunger slidably mounted in said coil spring having a pin on the side thereof threaded with the coils of said spring and having a portion extending within the longitudinal slot of the tubular member for moving said plunger upwardly or downwardlywhen the spring is rotated, said plunger being in direct contact with an adjacent flint member tobe fed longitudinally of said bore and being resiliently urged in an upward direction by that portion of the coil spring beneath the pin when the plunger is threaded in an upward direction whereby the tension of said resilient member on said plunger may be varied according to the upward movementof said plunger and attachment means connected with the lower end of the coil spring and having a threaded por tion adapted to be threaded through the threaded 1 bore section to a position internally of the circumferential groove wherein said attachment means may be continuously rotated in said direction and will cause said attachment means to retain the parts in assembled relation with each other while permitting rotation of the coil spring in said direction and rotation of said attachment means in an opposite direction will permit the said means to be threaded outward to permit the 7 parts to be disassociated with each other.

3. I a deviceof the character described, the combination of a main support having a hollow bore therein and means for resiliently supporting and feeding a plurality of members longitudinally of said bore, said means comprising a tubular member having a longitudinal slot therein adapted to be positioned and'supported in said bore, a coil spring in said tubular member, a plunger in said coil spring having a pin threaded with the coils of said spring and having a portion extending within thelongitudinal slot of the tubular member, said main support having a hollow bore therein being formed with a circumferential groove of a diameter larger than the diameter-of the bore and communicating with the lower end of said bore and having a threaded opening of a diameter less than the diameter of the circumferential groove located beneath said groove and communicating therewith, said coil spring having attachment means secured to the lower end thereof formed with a threaded section adapted to be threaded in a direction inwardly of the threaded opening to a position within said circumferential groove whereby continued movement in said direction will permit continuous ro-' tation of said attachment means and simultaneous rotation of the coil spring in said direction with the said. attachment means being held against displacement of said hollow bore by the V threaded portion thereof and the threads of the REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,042,572 Wise et a1 June 2, 1936 2,469,442 r Rein et al May 10, 1949 2,473,636 Campos June 21, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 121,388 Austria Feb. 25, 1931 130,670 Austria Dec. 10, 1932 

